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2 days ago the judge ruled Panos had to at 3 mil and to be barred from serving as an officer and director of a public company. He also has agreed to not take any money for promoting or endorsing any penny stock.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/12/21/former-columbus-businessman-paying-3m-in-civil-penalties.html
Former Columbus-area businessman agrees to pay $3 million fine over stock scheme

A Utah businessman has been accused by federal regulators of defrauding investors in a scheme tied to the sale of stock in several small companies while he lived near Columbus.

Edward Panos, 46, of Park City, Utah, has agreed to pay civil penalties of more than $3 million to settle the charges filed against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission without admitting or denying the allegations, according to SEC documents released Tuesday.

Panos was the subject of a 2014 story in The Dispatch in which a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge ordered him to pay what now amounts to nearly $3 million in damages to the one-time owners of a defunct information-technology company, iBeam Solutions, based in Canal Winchester. It stands as one of the largest local verdicts in a business dispute.

Panos filed for bankruptcy protection not long after the verdict and the owners have been trying to collect the award since.

The SEC charged that Panos illegally concealed his control and ownership of several small companies that he created, took them public and sold stock for hundreds of thousands of dollars by acting through figurehead CEOs. He failed to disclose his significant ownership, which he often hid in accounts not bearing his name, the SEC said.

“After selling a controlling interest in the public shells, Panos, who continued to hold shares in the companies, generated interest in the companies through paid promotional campaigns and, after the stock rose, he sold his remaining shares,” according to the SEC.

In at least one instance, Panos exploited inexperienced college students, including students at Ohio State, according to the SEC.

Panos was cooperative with regulators and is glad to resolve the matter, said his attorney, Brent Baker of Salt Lake City.

“After having been at the SEC for 13 years and been on the defense side almost 10, securities laws are very complicated, and Mr. Panos is looking forward to putting this matter behind him as soon as possible,” Baker said.

Baker would not comment on whether Panos is able to pay the penalties.

In addition to the civil penalties, Panos has agreed to be barred from serving as an officer and director of a public company. He also has agreed to not take any money for promoting or endorsing any penny stock.

The order also covers his wife, Allison.

“There is some satisfaction that it is going to be pretty darn hard for him to do something like this again,” said attorney Barton Keyes, who is representing the three founders of iBeam — Eric Schmidt, his wife, Brenda, and Paul Bursey — in their effort to collect on the jury award.

“It’s good to see that the SEC is saying, ‘Hey we looked into this ourselves and what he has done to other people, what he has done to Eric, Brenda and Paul,’” Keyes said. “There’s a little bit of comfort to that.”

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